Ryanair: The Panda Express of Airlines

How are Ryanair and Panda Express alike? They are both cheap and will do in a pinch, but they’ll leave you feeling unwell and unless you’re desperate you’ll avoid going back.

Or at least, that’s the general perception. But williamsf1 is curious to know if the reality of flying Ryanair might have changed for the better, as he has found a particularly good fare, even including the “Business Plus” add-on package, on a Madrid to Gran Canaria route.

Based on the reviews from fellow travelers, if the fare is cheap enough, and the flight short enough, and you are able to avoid all of the extra charges, and you don’t mind the occasional (common?) delay … then Ryanair might be an ok option.

Do I regret flying them? Well, I am undecided to be honest. I really didn’t enjoy the experience but they did get me from A to B on-time with both flights and I did save a lot of money. …

But TBH if you plan to spend the extra money on a “Business” ticket, you might as well just book a good airline and have a much more pleasant flying experience. ~Mattg

queuing to get on was horrendous and although my bag was underweight for carry on they still took it as there were too many carry-on bags – yes it was cramped and all that the others have said but it was so much cheaper and it was less than an hour ~VPS

Even though I paid extra for the priority boarding, it was still quite a scrum. Everything else was adequate, not more than that. ~Anna

If only the late, great Phil Hartman were still alive – Ryanair could have hired him to reprise his “Bill McNeil” character from “News Radio” and serve as their corporate spokesperson.

What do you think? Is Ryanair as remarkably adequate as Anna seems to think they are? At what price point do you begin to consider them? And when you do succumb to the temptation of the dollar-flight menu, are you concerned at all that you have just paid $20 to hurtle through the sky at 30,000 feet on a jet being maintained by mechanics who are living off of a slice of that $20 pie?